dcstudent

Saw a story yesterday at usatoday.com about an American Connection flight (operated by TransStates) that left passengers stranded in Scottsbluff, Nebraska when they were diverted there because of fog in Denver. Evidently the plane took back off with crew but left the passengers to fend for themselves to get to Denver. (Hertz stepped up and chartered a bus, although would have charged the passengers were it not for the airlines deciding to pick up the cost.) See link: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...ned-usat_x.htm

But I'm not posting about the details of the airlines handling of the original incident but rather the response of the spokesman for American Airlines: "American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner says he's unaware of what happened in Nebraska, and it isn't American's responsibility. "Trans States is responsible," he says. "

Although true in theory, how many passengers will differentiate between American and Trans States when the plane is painted American? How hard is it for American to just apologize for something rather than pass the buck? Here's one way it could have been handled:

"We would like to apologize to all of the effected passengers on American Connection flight XXXX. American will be working with our contract operator, Trans States, to make sure an incident like this never happens again."

flyupfront

The whole airline industry could use a PR 101 refresher course... It's just not that hard!

Roadrunner2

One more nail in the coffin for the airlines....one more reason for people to support a Passengers' Bill of Rights. How many more episodes like this is it going to take before the nay-sayers start realizing that the airlines aren't going to "do the right thing" on their own?

PresRDC

Quite a few for me. We are still talking about a comically small percentage of flights and a small number of people.

The odds of me affected by one of these stories is too slim to register on my radar screen as a risk and, if I was really that concerned, I could take steps to minimize the risk. The odds of me affected by an arbitrary government imposed time limit is far greater.

To be blunt, we can "sacrafice" a few planeloads of people each year to avoid the unintended problems an arbitrary cut-offs would cause to far more people.

mikeef

Not even true in theory. Trans States is a vendor for AA. AA is responsible.

Otherwise, I agree with PresRDC.

Mike

AEpilot76

I'd rather congress focus on more important issues, such as the war we're currently fighting.

IF the airlines don't step up, then they lose business....they will eventually learn.

mwhitted

I think JetBlue is providing that course right now with their handling of the Valentine's Day Massacre aftermath. No, it doesn't seem that they handled the incident itself very well at the time, but they seem to be stepping up, taking responsibility, and making changes in a hurry. ^ Instead of waiting for the law suits to start and then crying "It's not our fault".

oklAAhoma

Unbelievable. When United Express abandoned pax diverted to CYS in a similar fashion two months earlier, I thought UA's official explanation was ridiculous, but it pales in comparison to the absurdity of Wagner's comments.

edwin_p_morales

It is unbelievable. Jetblue completely screws up and strands people on planes for hours (again) but yet every press story this week is about how they're going to start this new compensation scheme and passengers the reporters interview are so happy. It's become a net positive. OP is right, AA has some room for improvement here.

andrzej

Assuming that the quote was not taken out of context......

justageek

If you think that's bad, check out how one week Tim Wagner was saying AA loves the SJC-NRT route, and then the next week said AA has to cancel it because it never made money.

The AA spokespeople (actually, Tim Wagner is the only one I remember seeing in print) are just like any other spokespeople -- they say whatever their bosses tell them to say, no matter how idiotic, inaccurate, or contradictory.

brp

Right. It's not fair to blame the messenger just because you don't like the message. Even is he knows, for example, that SJC-NRT will be axed...if he is asked to say the airline supports it what should he do...tell the truth, or do his job?

Cheers.

oklAAhoma

Ah, but contextual quotes rarely induce as much outrage and righteous indignation.

But seriously... I am guilty as charged on this... I jumped on the bandwagon without considering in what context the statement was made.

mlraa1

I read the article this morning and was struck by the comment from AA. I am glad to see I was not the only one. As someone who has to fly on those contracted Trans States flights out of STL I'm glad to know what their real attitude is towards passengers on those flights. Hmm I thought AA made the profit on those flights interesting that it is not their problem. Well I will exercise my options more often when it comes to flying AA/ American Connection or another carrier. Seriously AA could learn something from B6.

oklAAhoma

There are more than a few unhappy B6 regulars over in that forum who think B6 still has quite a bit to learn.